“Home on the Range” has been one of Taylor Collins’s favorite songs since he was a kid. (Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam…) He’s long felt a spiritual kinship with bison. Now he and his wife, Katie Forrest, have a herd of 73 bison grazing their aptly named Roam Ranch, near Fredericksburg. “We derive a lot of inspiration and wonder from watching the herd, and I couldn’t imagine being as excited to spend time out at the ranch without them,” Collins says. The couple—co-founders of Austin-based meat snack company Epic Provisions—bought the spread in April 2017, after selling Epic to General Mills for a reported $100 million in 2016. Expansive caves, aquifer-fed creeks, and a balance of agricultural potential and rangeland attracted them to the property. They and their toddler daughter split time between Austin and the ranch, where they have plans to introduce pasture-raised pigs and more turkeys, add guest cabins for Airbnb bookings, and launch an introduction-to-hunting program. Take a tour of their dreamy Hill Country acreage and inviting modern ranch house.

Katie Forrest and Taylor Collins first sketched out the vision for their two-structure home on the back of repurposed printer paper. They were inspired by the original German settlers who built houses in the area starting in the 1860s. The dogtrot cabin is meant to encourage the family and their guests to spend as much time outdoors as possible.
Photography by Wynn Myers
Wildlife art is displayed throughout the home. Lithographs of paintings by James Audubon hang above a set of drawers from West Elm in their daughter Scout's room.
Photography by Wynn Myers
The dogtrot cabin houses the living room, kitchen, and a guest bedroom. The sofa, chairs, and rug are from Four Hands in Austin, and the lights above the island were found at Black Chalk Home and Laundry in Fredericksburg.
Photography by Wynn Myers
"We try and eat as much as we can from the ranch. In addition to hunting and eating wild game, we absolutely love cooking the chickens that we raise," Collins says. "They are a special breed called a Freedom Ranger and taste unlike any chicken you have ever known. We roast, grill, and smoke whole birds as often as we can!"
Photography by Wynn Myers
The porch of the sleeping cabin looks out on a yard and fire pit that the couple uses to grill steaks over mesquite wood that's been harvested from the property.
Photography by Wynn Myers
The couple appeared on the cover of Inc. magazine in 2018. The idea for Epic came after a long period of both of them being vegans. Forrest was training for the Ironman World Championships and struggling with health issues that turned out to be related to her diet. They started reintroducing high-quality grass-fed meats into their diets and noticed immediate benefits.
Photography by Wynn Myers
A reading nook in the master bedroom is framed by prints from Austin design studio Land.
Photography by Wynn Myers
Follow the Roam Ranch Instagram account for information about events the couple are hosting at the ranch. "These events are open to the community and allow consumers to connect with their meat in the most meaningful and intimate way possible," Collins says.
Photography by Wynn Myers
Sunset is the couple's favorite time of day on the ranch.
Photography by Wynn Myers
Hats from the couple's enviable collection—many of them purchased from Best Made Co.—hang in the entryway leading to the living room. The bench below is from Four Hands and the rug from Farm Haus in Fredericksburg.
Photography by Wynn Myers
The ranch manager, Cody Spencer, now lives in Roam Ranch's yurt, where Forrest and Collins lived for four months before the birth of their daughter.
Photography by Wynn Myers
Both Collins and Forrest are endurance athletes, and they use this outdoor shower most frequently after morning workouts in the summer.
Photography by Wynn Myers
The couple did all their own interior design. Their master bathroom choices were inspired by an image they saw on Pinterest. The lights are from Rejuvenation, and the sink is by Kohler.
Photograph by Wynn Myers
This 1977 International Harvester Scout is Collins's dream car, which he bought from the manager of Austin's South Congress Hotel. "The Scout is a complete beast of a ranch truck and is used to take guests on tours, as well as to pull anything that gets stuck in the mud!" he says.
Photography by Wynn Myers
The exteriors of the structures are made of galvanized corrugated steel and Douglas Fir wood siding. The porch is built from red cedar and steel oil pipe.
Photography by Wynn Myers
Books on everything from Texas wildlife and ecology to cookbooks are stacked around the house.
Photography by Wynn Myers
His and hers snake boots by Chippewa Boots have a resting spot on the porch outside the master bedroom.
Photography by Wynn Myers
The bison herd has more room to roam since the couple recently purchased an adjacent property, upping their acreage to 1,000.
Photography by Wynn Myers